Hank Lyon sits in the Maggie Moo's ice cream parlor owned by his family in Rockaway shortly after the 2011 Republican freeholder primary. Lyon successfully sponsored a resolution calling for a zero percent increase in county taxes.John Munson/ The Star-Ledger

MORRISTOWN — The Morris County Board of Freeholders today adopted a resolution agreeing to “seek a zero percent increase in property taxes” for the 2013 budget.

The resolution, proposed by Freeholder Hank Lyon, represented a compromise from the original resolution, drafted two weeks ago. The new resolution deleted language calling for a “strict zero percent increase,” although the earlier resolution had also said the freeholders should “seek” a zero percent increase.

The resolution says the budget committee, headed by the 24-year-old Lyon, “has outlined a budget framework that demonstrates the county’s financial strength and flexibility to reduce taxes.”

Six freeholders voted in favor of the resolution, with Freeholder Douglas Cabana abstaining.

Cabana, the senior member of the board and the only one not in his first term, said he favors the zero percent increase, but wanted to postpone action until he has time to review specifics. He urged the board “not to delete our surplus.”

At the suggestion of Freeholder Ann Grossi, language was inserted saying the resolution is “nonbinding.”

The resolution points out that Morris County’s “all-purpose tax has not been reduced since 1998.”

The amount to be raised in taxes under the county’s general levy increased by 1.9 percent for 2012, although county officials pointed out that a reduction in the county’s open space tax resulted in an overall increase of just 0.5 percent.